DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

蠅頭小利

简蝇头小利 · 繁蠅頭小利

Mandarin · pinyin yíng tóu xiǎo lì

(idiom) meager profit; petty gain

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

蠅: Look up this written character
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
利: lì · gains, advantage, profit, merit
蝇: yíng · flies
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–3–4 · ying2 tou2 xiao3 li4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

蠅頭小利 · find source passages ↗ · 蝇头小利 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jing4 tau4 siu2 lei6

Cantonese word readings for 蠅頭小利. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) extremely small profit; petty gain

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack